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Doodle Toons (also known as The Doodle Toons Movie and Doodle Toons: The Bunny and the Bear or The Bunny and the Bear: A Doodle Toons Picture in its working titles) is a 2017 adult animated comedy film based on the webcomic series of the same name by Jack Cabhan. An international co-production between the United States, Ireland, and France, it was co-written and directed by Adrian Hancock and co-written by Cabhan, Laurie Craig, and Noah Baumbach. The film follows a white rabbit as his world begins to collapse when a bear summons aliens to butcher the world's rabbit population.
The film was produced by Supreme Entertainment and Clever Clover Productions for Paramount Pictures, and stars the voices of Josh Gad, Brad Garrett, Grey Griffin, David Tennant, Cathy Cavadini, Sarah Silverman, and Steve Blum. The film makes a departure from Supreme's more realistically set films to feature various unique elements, such as aesthetics of twentieth-century animation with warm colors, inconsistent backgrounds and character models, and a gradual tonal shift from comedic to dark. It also observes the rising tensions between the prey and the predator, and how their hatred (or in the bear's case, hunger) for one another could ultimately push one of them into making a decision that would doom their world forever.
Doodle Toons had a limited release in the United States on October 27, 2017; it was later released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on December 6, 2017. It grossed over $113.7 million against a budget of $88 million, and received acclaim from critics for its animation, screenplay, humor, performances, themes, and score.
Plot
Bellybutton (Josh Gad) is a small rabbit living in the forest town of Morning Woods. While setting off to meet his girlfriend Jellybean (Grey Griffin), he is ambushed by a giant Bear (Brad Garrett), who has spent years trying to take him in for nourishment. Bellybutton manages to trick Bear into getting stuck in a barrel covered with explosives; he ignites the fuse and the barrel explodes, sending the bear into the atmosphere. He eventually crashes into a ship run by creatures that feed on their visitors' desires, posing as bear-resembling literature characters called the Grizzles. Discontent with the dinner that they serve (the meat analogue, in particular), Bear unwittingly brings up the attention of the race's dictator, disguised as Gruzzle (Steve Blum), who intends to kill Bear for damaging his banquet hall (and the window he crashed through earlier) and disturbing his tranquility. However, Bear, still craving for a rabbit, offers to make a contribution to their dinner menu as his payment.
Bellybutton arrives at Jellybean's house only to discover that she has lost her sanity from a vivid dream centering on the events of the Grizzles book; he decides to buy an audiobook from Inkblot's (Freddie Highmore) record store in hopes of helping her recover. As Belly and his closest friend Cruncher (David Tennant) leave with the audiobook 72 Stupidly Enriching Stories to Cure Your Girlfriend's Mental Trauma, they are suddenly chased through the forest by beams of yellow light sucking numerous rabbits into the sky.
After a long day of circumstances regarding the tractor beam attack and rabbits' disappearance, such as being the only target left for a group of rabbit hunters, Belly ultimately suspects that the bear alone could be the cause of all his troubles. After a failed attempt to follow Bear using the same explosives that blew the predator off the planet, Belly apologizes to Jellybean after giving her an audiobook version of The Grizzles, which he mistakenly traded his mouth for with the troublemaking Ringo (Tom Kenny) and took back afterwards. He shelters himself in Jelly's house.
Meanwhile, the Grizzles have their large supply of rabbits sorted out and ready to cook for their banquet, but are uncertain what to celebrate with their meal. Upon hearing that they are missing two rabbits, Gruzzle devises a plan to track down the rabbits by sending thick clouds of the race's archived, gelatinous "consciences" into the woods below, which claim the bodies of many townsfolk and cause destruction across town. The two rabbits flee to safety in Bellybutton's house, bringing Cruncher, Goldie (Cathy Cavadini), and Pip (Sarah Silverman) with them. As the world disintegrates outside, Belly finds himself at fault for not killing the bear like he should have when he had the oppurtunity. Suddenly, an overweight Inkblot crashes into the house, apparently having eaten all of his records like "donuts". He then reveals himself as just Bear in disguise, with the real Inkblot strapped to his back and gagged. The bear jumps into a gigantic light beam that later sucks the five Doodle Toons aboard the ship and destroys Belly's house.
On the ship, the toons are separated and terrorized by the ship's passengers. Jellybean is carried off to the kitchen by Gruzzle, who punishes Bellybutton for trying to interfere by turning him into a glowing gelatin blob. Cruncher pulls gelatinized Belly out of one of the tanks reserving the consciences of the possessed animals for dessert, and then they wander across the hotel-like interior of the ship while searching for Jelly; they are attacked by a Grizzle family along the way. Goldie and Pip are caught by one of the guards, who shoots a conscience at Pip but misses; the conscience ends up possessing Goldie instead. The toons later regroup and hide away to get the possessed Goldie back on Pip's side, unexpectedly motivating the alien to help them rather than Goldie herself. They follow a stampede of Gruzzle's henchmen to the kitchen to rescue all of the rabbits including Jellybean from an oven. Belly, Jelly, and the rabbits escape through a ventilation system, but Cruncher and Pip are taken to have their consciences removed while possessed Goldie is escorted to the furnace (which is never seen) for betraying the race. Infuriated at the loss of his dinner, Gruzzle is left with no choice but to devour the consciences, giving him enough power and mass to destroy the rabbits.
Bellybutton and Jellybean finally confront Bear, still upset about how he's been famished for years with no one bothering to give him anything satisfying to eat. Belly gladly offers to share some food of his. Before Bear and Belly can make amends, however, a bigger and more monstrous Gruzzle intervenes, intent on conquering the toons' world once he is finished with them. Then he proceeds to suck Belly and Jelly up into his fiery black hole mouth, seemingly killing them. Thanks to Belly's encouragement, Bear pursues the dictator to the ship's weapon room where he shoots him in the stomach with a laser, causing him to regurgitate Belly, Jelly, Cruncher, Goldie, and Pip, all turned into gelatin blobs. The blobs and Bear drive Gruzzle into the path of a directed-energy beam that vaporizes him to death and obliterates the ship, thus returning all of the abductees to the surface and their respective bodies.
Inkblot places the blame on Bear for nearly ending the world, and sends an angry mob against him. Belly halts the mob and admits that none of the events would have happened had he not been so hostile to the poor bear. Bear in turn shares the blame for letting his obsessive hunger get the best of him. Inspired by the two former foes' confessions, Goldie and Pip treat Bear to some of their snacks. Soon, Bellybutton and the other townsfolk do the same. Goldie suggests a new friendship between the bear and the rabbits, but Belly (fearing humiliation from his fans) rejects this ending, and instead opts to give Bear his "last hammer whack" back to his cave to never be seen again as they exchange farewells. After sharing a kiss with Belly, Jellybean immediately drags him off while announcing plans to move out of Morning Woods, fearing they'd otherwise have to suffer through the film's events all over again.
Cast
- Josh Gad as Bellybutton, a wise-cracking white rabbit who is the prey of Bear and the love interest of Jellybean.
- Brad Garrett as Bear, Bellybutton and Jellybean's evil, overweight rabbit-hungry predator and the assistant of Gruzzle. He has a slightly softer side for other animals, especially Goldie and Pip.
- Grey Griffin as Jellybean, a hot-tempered, although mostly sweet-hearted, pink rabbit who is Bellybutton's love interest.
- David Tennant as Cruncher, a loyal and dim-witted dog-gerbil hybrid and Belly's best friend.
- Cathy Cavadini as Goldie, an optimistic yellow cat who always looks after her adoptive younger sister Pip.
- Sarah Silverman as Pip, a shy but meaningful blue mouse who is willing to share her love and delicacy with Goldie.
- Steve Blum as Lord Grizzle Gruzzle, the leader of the Grizzle race who uses Bear's hunger and stupidity to lay his clutches on the rabbits, and the rest of their world as well.
- Tom Kenny as Ringo, a trickster and gold-digger who is the subject of disdain across the woods.
- Kari Wahlgren as Grandma Grizzle.
- Danny Mann as Grandpa Grizzle.
- Corey Burton as Chef Grizzle.
The cast also includes several cameos made by characters from the web comic's first generation, including:
- Freddie Highmore as Inkblot, a goth panda who works as a cashier at the town's record store, and is disillusioned with the world around him.
- Kristen Wiig as Crumbles, Cruncher's admirer and stalker, who just wants to spend the remaining time of her life with him.
- Marcella Puppini as Clarabelle, a white French cat and hairdresser.
- Kath Soucie as Soo, a drowsy and quiet young sheep.
- Ariel Winter as Gingerbread, a ginger-haired yellow cat who runs the barbeque grill.
- Matt Frewer as Fester, a blood red fox and the town bully (who would replace Bear as the predator in later comics, with a revised design).
- Jess Harnell, Billy West, Frank Welker, and Peter Berkrot as the Weepy hunters.
- Adrian Hancock provides the sound effects for Bellybutton's anthropomorphic alarm clock
Additional voices
- Keith Anthony
- Greg Berg
- Bob Bergen
- Gregg Berger
- Jack Cabhan
- David Cowgill
- Jim Cummings
- Debi Derryberry
- Terri Douglass
- Chris Edgerly
- Jackie Gonneau
- Butch Hartman
- Bridget Hoffman
- Daniel Kaz
- Jacob Lenard
- Jason Marsden
- Mona Marshall
- Scott Menville
- Lara Jill Miller
- Laraine Newman
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Fred Tatasciore
- Harland Williams
- Matthew Wood
Production
Development
In early 2015, there were rumors of a feature film based on Doodle Toons, with series creator Jack Cabhan uploading his own poster online under the title "Every kids movie these days", which satirizes most modern films based on cartoons. The poster uses modified stock photos of animals to represent live action versions of the series' main cast, along with a tagline describing the many flaws of the modern family film genre.
Supreme Entertainment CEO Brandon Monroe, having gained a fascination with the series for its satirical take on classic cartoons and its character designs, considered it a challenge to adapt Doodle Toons cinematically while breaking free of the stereotypes mentioned by Cabhan. Adrian Hancock and Jack Cabhan accepted the challenge in July 2015, although Cabhan initially refused for the prior two months. Supreme announced the production of their adaptation in August, and a writing team was assembled consisting of Cabhan, Hancock (who also served asv director), Laurie Craig, and Noah Baumbach.
Writing
A majority of the film's screenplay was heavily inspired by the webtoon pilot "Rabbit for Dinner". Both of these animations revolve around Bear trying to eat one of the two main rabbits to satisfy his hunger, and Bellybutton has to rescue Jellybean near the end of the story when she is the one the bear takes away to eat. Hancock felt that the bear in "Rabbit for Dinner" would make "[the] perfect villain [...or anti-hero, to say the least] for the movie."
Animation
The overall art design and color scheme was inspired heavily by numerous animated works prior to the 21st century, such as those of Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Matt Groening, Geo G., Joe Murray, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and Don Bluth. The animation team used a method called cel shading to give the character models a flat appearance with thick outlines and minimal shading, while animating the models largely on twos in order to make the outlines look "natural". This creative choice is comparable to a combination of the likes of both the Disney short Paperman and Blue Sky's The Peanuts Movie.
To further apply the 2D aesthetic, each location in Bellybutton's world was made to look "inconsistent" at points using separate models, giving the impression of a small building with a much larger interior, or a surface that rolls in the vein of a looping hamster wheel when the characters are running.
Hancock wanted to give the film, more specifically the climax it would build up to, a tone he described as reminiscent of "a dark fever dream you just woke up from, with bright yellowish-orange lights and fancy house structures all over the place." To achieve this, he took research and inspiration for the Grizzle ship's interior from several traditional-style structures including mansions, hotels, cruise ships, carousels, churches, and restaurants, with the RMS Titanic being a notable example of the cruise ship angle. The idea behind this, according to Hancock, was to avoid the "obvious" futuristic look of spaceships seen in most films, while still balancing it with a look that would feel "alien" to the main characters.
Chandeliers and light fixtures were featured in several rooms as Hancock's personal method of conveying strong intensity behind the scenes set on the ship; moreover, the Grizzles' tentacles were modeled after European-style chandelier candles.
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Marketing
Trailers
- The teaser trailer was released on October 19, 2016, and was shown before Midgets: Enter the Realm of Giants and Monster Trucks.
- The first theatrical trailer was released on June 20, 2017 alongside Transformers: The Last Knight.
- The second theatrical trailer was released on August 18, 2017 alongside Palm City.
Release
In December 2015, Supreme Entertainment announced plans to release Doodle Toons on July 5, 2017. However, the following month, the film was taken off the release schedule, and the new release date was yet to be announced. In March 2016, the release date was pushed to October 27, 2017.
Box office
In the United States and Canada, Doodle Toons was released alongside Thank You for Your Service, Jigsaw, and Suburbicon, and was projected to gross $10 million from 1,612 theaters during its opening weekend. The film placed second on its opening weekend behind Jigsaw, grossing $7.5 million. On the second weekend, it grossed $29.2 million, dropping to fourth place.
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Adrian Hancock-directed version of Doodle Toons offers enough visual warmth, fast-paced wit, and retro fare to earn its reputation as a rare adaptation that pleases moviegoers beyond returning fans." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 77 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audience members gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Debruge, a writer for the Variety magazine, called the film "over-the-top, dark, dramatic, weird, cutesy, brutal, and sentimental, yet quite often not ashamed to make fun of itself for being over-the-top, dark, dramatic, weird, cutesy, brutal, and sentimental." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "one of the most intelligently written Looney Tunes parodies in a long time with a PG-13 twist. In a mere 94 minutes, these Toons have given us something fresh and funny to behold." Brian D. Johnson of Maclean's wrote, "This alien dictator is a threat for a reason; he serves to push the bear to destroy his own home to get the chow [he] wants and as a cry for help. Now on the other side, that snowman from Frozen (this time a bunny) must defend himself and everyone he loves against the destructive forces that emerge from his predator's self-importance. The third act, is so vividly beautiful."
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Rating
The film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "thematic material including slapstick violence and bizarre images, and some suggestive humor".
Home media
Doodle Toons was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download on March 6, 2018.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Doodle Toons/Soundtrack
Transcripts
Main
To read the transcript of the film, click here.
Trailers
To read the transcript of the film's trailers, click here.